Listen, Liberal [antikvár]

INTRODUCTION Listen, Liberal There are consequences to excessive hope, just as there are to other forms of intemperance. One of these is disillusionment, another is anger, and a third is this book. For a generation, Democratic politicians have talked of "hope" as though it were their unique selling proposition, a secret ingredient they had that no other major-party brand could offer. Today those same Democrats express annoyance at the suggestion that anyone could really have taken them seriously on this hope business. It is hard to govern, they say; you can't get everything you want from politics. Ordinary citizens are beyond disillusioned, though. It has been nine years since the last recession began, and whether the country is in a recovery or a slump or even a galloping bull market makes no difference to them anymore. According to official measurements, the last few years have been a time of brisk prosperity, with unemployment down and the stock market up. Productivity advances all the time. For those who work for a living, however, nothing seems to improve. Wages do not grow. Median income is still well below where it was in 2007. Workers' share of the gross national product (as opposed to the share taken by investors) hit a record low in 2011—and